Finished up the workbench. Made with mostly free 2x4s, with some extra 2x6s purchased.
Half laps everywhere.
Two sjoberg vises because I just have too much money to spend.
Dog holes.
Flip down casters.
Adjustable leveling feet that I designed and 3D printed. You can kick them over with your toe to adjust and get rid whatever wobble appears in that particular spot.
That is gorgeous! Now I feel like I need to build one to replace my harbor freight workbench… I guess I’ll add that to my ever growing pile of projects :)
What are the two doodads sticking out of the dog holes on the angle brace?
And any tips on picking out flip down casters? Seems like that would be a great feature.
It was a great learning experience! Almost all of my joints were too big for the power tools I have, so I got to learn some hand tool techniques. It did take way longer than any YouTube video would suggest.
Holdfast https://taytools.com/narex-hot-forged-workbench-holdfast-for-3-4-inch-dog-holes?a_2=v_3504&cid=2587
Bench dog screw clamp https://taytools.com/taytools-adjustable-workbench-bench-dog-screw-clamp-fits-3-4-dog-holes-full-5-1-2-travel?onsite=TT597
Flip down casters https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08BR7R4WN
I just got the same ones I got for my table saw a while back. They work fine once installed, but it's a royal pain to assemble them. I had to get clever with vise grips to tighten the nut.
Adding the bar across is very nice, you get two wheels with one motion and don't need to squeeze behind the bench if it's against a wall. Making it longer than the width of the bench helps catch it with your foot, it can get a stuck flat against the bench when the wheels are disengaged.
Thanks for the details and links! If I ever get around to building my own, I’ll let you know how it goes.
I’m not much of an engineer - my approach tends to be a combination of “that seems like it would be sturdy,” “I’ll just copy this design that seems sturdy,” and “I’m not sure, so I’ll overbuild it just in case”. How did you decide on your structural design/bracing?
A lot of the dimensions came from the limitations of the material I had on hand. A friend gave me a stack of 2x4s, and I processed them to get the most I could out of the boards for the top. So the thickness, length, and width were mostly dictated by that. I tried to maximize the size of the bench since I often work with large material. Case in point, first project was some sound panels that were the same size or larger than the top.
For the design, I watched a ton of videos and tried to pick out the best parts. It was important to me to have the legs flush with the edge of the top so I could work with material vertically ans clamp to the legs.
The bracing I commented on elsewhere, but I wanted some extra structure, some extra weight, and dog holes on the working side.
I didn't feel the need for fancy joinery, but I wanted the strength so I used half laps everywhere, which still turned out to be a challenge with the size of the parts.
I've come to love building workbenches from 2x4's. They're (reasonably) cheap, soft enough to work easily, and you can essentially use mass to compensate for intrinsic rigidity. Maybe add plywood shear panels in strategic places. Even 1/4" plywood shear panel will beat most brace structures.
2x4s are cheap enough to try a design for a while & throw it out (or downgrade it to patio furniture) if it doesn't work. Soft enough to just plane a millimeter off the top when it gets beat up. If you invest in expensive hardware, move it to the new iteration. I've got like three of them now.